An Alternative Approach to Israeli Political Commentary

Israel, it was revealed today, has allowed Egypt to transfer an enormous quantity of weapons to Fatah, the Palestinian faction controlled by PA President Abu Mazen.

A total of 2,000 AK-47 assault rifles, 20,000 magazines and two million (!!) bullets were included in the shipment, which is ostensibly aimed at strengthening Fatah in its rivalry with Hamas.

Of course, there is one slight problem with this approach: Fatah has this nasty little habit of turning its weapons on Jews. The very same Palestinian security forces that received the ammunition are the very same Palestinian security forces that engage in terror against the Jewish state.

And so, in a move of astonishing obtuseness, Israel has once again overseen the arming of its foes. Incredibly, according to media reports, the shipment of weapons was actually escorted across the Egypt-Gaza border by Israeli Military Police!!

After 13 years of Palestinian Authority terror, you'd think that our government would have learned by now that giving guns to the enemy is not only short-sighted, but dangerous too.

Sadly, it appears that even this most basic of lessons has yet to sink in.

While much has been written in recent years concerning the relationship between Israel and the evangelical Christian community in America, there is one key point that has yet to receive the attention that it deserves.

With the inexorable demographic decline of American Jewry well under way, Christian Zionists might just be the best hope for ensuring continued US support for the Jewish state in the long run.

Thus, it is time for Israel to change its approach and reach out to Christian Zionists in a new and more sophisticated manner.

As I suggest in the column of mine below that appeared in the Jerusalem Post, this can be accomplished with the adoption of a few simple, yet important steps.

The Jerusalem Post, December 22, 2006

In Praise of Christian Zionists

By Michael Freund

They number in the millions and wield increasing power and influence across the United States. From year to year their voice grows stronger and more resolute, as their role in shaping policy, and the future of American society continues to expand.

Guided by faith, they love Israel passionately and pray for her well-being, rejoicing in her successes and grieving over her setbacks. They are America's Bible-believing Christians, and it is time for Israel to reach out to them in a far more sophisticated and comprehensive manner.

A great deal has already been written about the close ties that have developed between the two, as Israeli officials have at last begun to appreciate the depth and feeling of American evangelical support for the Jewish state. Indeed, what was once unthinkable has now become routine, as leading Christian pastors and Israeli government representatives regularly confer with one another, exchanging ideas and views on the principal issues of the day.

But in far too many instances, Israel's attitude toward evangelicals has been short-sighted and ill-advised, with the relationship often focused on soliciting dollars rather than devotion. And that has got to change, because far greater things are at stake here than just boosting revenues from tourism. For as strong and robust as the American Jewish community might be, it cannot and will not last forever, as recent demographic trends make clear. That leaves evangelical Christians as the best hope for ensuring that bedrock US support for Israel remains firm and unwavering in the decades to come.

In other words, thank G-d for Christian Zionists. Like it or not, the future of the relationship between Israel and the US might very well hinge far less on America's Jews than on its Christians.

By all accounts, evangelical Christians are a force to be reckoned with. As the Independent put it the other day (London, December 19): "To say the United States is a religious country is an understatement. According to polls, an estimated 47 per cent of American adults claim to be 'born-again' or evangelical."

Even if the figure is an overstatement, it still means there are tens of millions of Americans who identify themselves as evangelical. And this translates into an enormous wellspring of support for Israel, as an August 2006 study by the Pew Research Center revealed. According to the report's findings, "Seven-in-ten white evangelicals (69%) believe G-d gave Israel to the Jewish people and a solid majority (59%) believes that Israel is the fulfillment of biblical prophecy."

Not surprisingly, the study found that "those who believe that G-d gave Israel to the Jews and that the State of Israel fulfills biblical prophecy are much more likely than others to sympathize with Israel in its dispute with the Palestinians."

No wonder so many evangelicals have taken to calling themselves "Christian Zionists."

Their sympathy and concern for Israel is readily apparent. I see it in the e-mails I receive regularly from evangelical Christians in the US in response to my columns in The Jerusalem Post. They are sincere and caring, and full of love and concern for Israel and its plight.Sure, there are some who would like to convert Jews, and they make little or no attempt to hide their agenda. But the vast majority simply wish to bless Israel because that is what they truly believe G-d wants them to do.

AND IT IS this genuine and heartfelt affection that contains within it the potential to forge a historic alliance, one that could help heal some of the painful wounds of the past even as it paves the way for a close and meaningful partnership in the future.

By adopting a few simple but significant steps, Israel can lay the groundwork for ensuring that the bond with US Christians continues to deepen.

* First, Israel should appoint a roving ambassador tasked with responsibility for maintaining relations with Christians in America. This should not be just an honorary title, nor should it go to one of the usual organizational fund-raisers or foreign service hacks. Instead, the government should appoint a person of faith, one who can communicate with evangelicals in terms they both understand and appreciate.

* Second, Israel should reach out to Christian leaders and their communities, and initiate the establishment of "prayer battalions" in churches across the United States. Like rapid-deployment forces used by the military, these battalions could be mobilized at a moment's notice to pray for specific issues, such as the return of Israel's missing soldiers or the threat posed by Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Such an undertaking would have nothing to do with asking for funds, but everything to do with tapping into the vast reservoirs of faith and belief that underscore Christian backing for the Jewish state.

And you can be sure that if a person is moved to pray for Israel, chances are that his sense of affinity will only continue to grow.

Other steps that Israel could take to reinforce US Christian support might include organizing an annual conference for religious and lay leaders in Jerusalem, as well as helping them to develop the equivalent of a birthright-Israel program for young churchgoers which would serve to reinforce their connection with the land of the Bible.

Christian support for Israel is broad, profound and deep. If cultivated properly, it can blossom into a lasting friendship of historical, political and diplomatic significance.

And with American Jewry steadily shrinking in size, nothing could be more pressing or more vital.

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The writer served as Deputy Director of Communications in the Prime Minister's Office under former premier Binyamin Netanyahu.

The clock is ticking, yet no one wishes to hear it. The countdown to a nuclear Iran has begun, and with each passing day the nightmare scenario draws ever closer to becoming a reality.

In just a few months' time, if all goes according to plan, the tyrant of Teheran will preside over a celebration of terrifying, and history-altering, significance.

His goal, as he has stated repeatedly in recent weeks, is to complete the installation of thousands of centrifuges, the devices used to enrich uranium, by the end of March 2007.

This will give the ayatollahs the ability to start producing nuclear weapons, and to spread nuclear terror far and wide, threatening the existence not only of Israel, but of Western civilization itself.

The would-be Hitler of Persia has already made it abundantly clear that he plans to wipe Israel and its millions of Jews off the map. And last week he told Western leaders that their turn would soon be next: "If you do not respond to the divine call," he warned, "you will die soon and vanish from the face of the earth."

Three months. That's all we've got. That's all that stands right now between the world as we know it, and one in which the Persian executioner will be able to put his finger on the nuclear button.

This can not be allowed to happen. The danger is too great, the peril is too real.

Now is the time for all those who love Israel to stand up and be counted. Now is the time for pro-Israel Christians everywhere, and especially in the US, to rise up and cry out on behalf of God's people.

Storm the heavens with your prayers, and the White House with your pleas. Speak out now and urge US President George W. Bush to eliminate the Iranian nuclear threat once and for all.

BY NOW it should be clear: Nothing less than US military action is going to deter Teheran from pursuing its nuclear goals. Threats of sanctions and finger-wagging have failed to do the job.

Europe is hopelessly weak and conciliatory, and the United Nations is completely inept. There is one man, and one man alone, whom God has put in a position to stop Iran, and that man's name is George W. Bush.

But the president is under attack, as the media and his critics do their utmost to tear him down. They hate him and everything he stands for, and will stop at nothing to spoil his remaining time in office.

The president is a good man, and a man of faith. He knows what needs to be done; but like any leader, he also needs to hear from those who put him in office.

And that, dear Christians, is where you come in to play.

With your size and your influence, and yes, with your faith, it is you who can make a difference at this critical juncture for Israel and the West.

Many of my fellow Jews in the US are largely silent, afraid to be seen as leading the charge. It is as if they learned nothing from the Jewish people's horrific experience in Europe over six decades ago, when silence in America made possible extermination across the sea.

But you know better than that, and you are not afraid.

On issues that you care about, you have demonstrated an impressive ability to affect US policy, mustering the passion and power necessary to shape debate. Now, more than ever, is the time to do so again, for the threat to us all is very, very real.

Flood the White House and Congress with your concerns. Let them know that you fear for Israel and its safety. Urge your elected officials to hit Iran hard, and soon. Not merely with criticism, but with bombs as well.

Because unless the US Air Force goes into action, the mullahs of Teheran will jeopardize everything we hold dear.

Israel, as you know, is the "apple of His eye" (see Deut. 32:10 and Zech. 2:12). And G-d has made clear in His Scripture what He expects from people of faith at times such as these, when Israel is in danger.

"You who make mention of the L-rd," says the prophet Isaiah (Chap. 62: 6-7), "do not keep silent, and give Him no rest until He establishes and until He makes Jerusalem unto a praise in the earth."

"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem," says the Psalmist, in Psalm 122. "They that love thee shall prosper."

These aren't just guidelines or recommendations from books of old. They are a command to each and every one of us, Jew and Christian alike, to stand up and speak out when Israel is under threat.

I have no doubt, not one iota of disbelief, that G-d will save His people Israel. Deliverance comes from Him, and Him alone. But each of us must do our part to help bring it about.

And you, dear Christians, now have the power, and the opportunity, to do so. To move the president's heart, and to save Israel and the West from a truly diabolical fate.

So please, don't tarry - we dare not delay. The clock is winding down, the alarm bells are ringing. Raise your voices in prayer and supplication. The time to do something is now, and there is not a moment to waste.

While everyone has been focused, and rightly so, on the danger that a nuclear Iran would pose to the future of Israel and the West, there is another side effect of the international community's ongoing inaction that has been largely overlooked.

And that is the arms race that will inevitably result throughout the Persian Gulf, and the entire Middle East, should Tehran be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons.

Indeed, the first signs of it have already begun to appear.

Just yesterday, at a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh, six Arab states - Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates – all declared that they too now have atomic ambitions, and would like to obtain the technology necessary to start producing nuclear energy.

Of course, they were quick to insist that it would be for "peaceful purposes" only, but no one can really take this claim very seriously.

Why the sudden interest in nuclear research? Well, it really isn't too hard to guess the answer: all six of the countries involved live within range of Iran, which is busily speeding forward with impunity towards joining the nuclear club.

In other words, by allowing Iran to go nuclear, the world is setting the stage for a mad arms race throughout the entire region, as country after country seeks to protect itself from the threat posed by atomic ayatollahs.

It should be clear what this would mean – not only for the safety and security of Israel, but for that of the entire Western world.

Just one more reason why it is time for the US and/or Israel to bomb Iran, sooner rather than later…..

Today, the bi-partisan Iraq Study Group in the US released its much-anticipated report, which was met by a virtual blizzard of media coverage and interest.

But after glancing at the text and looking over some of its recommendations, it's hard to see what all the fuss is about.

While it may have been prepared by diplomatic heavyweights such as former US Secretary of State James Baker, this report has got to be one of the least creative and least imaginative set of policy recommendations to have been produced in Washington in a long, long time.

Indeed, rarely have so many spent so much time producing so little of value.

Take, for example, the section on "The Wider Regional Context". In short order, Mr. Baker and his colleagues recommend that Israel withdraw from the Golan Heights and agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

I read this part of the report and just could not help but wonder: what the heck does any of this have to do with the sectarian strife in Iraq?

Does Mr. Baker really believe there is a connection between Shiites and Sunnis killing each other in the streets of Baghdad, and Israel holding on to the Golan?

Does he honestly think that what goes on in Gaza or in Ramallah is what is driving the former Baathists and Saddam loyalists, and Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, to kidnap and murder Iraqi government employees?

The logic of the report is so transparently silly, and so intellectually vacuous, that it is nothing short of amazing that anyone could take it seriously.

Here's my prediction: the Baker report will create some waves, but it will shortly end up being tossed into the "circular file" that is cleared out at the end of each day by the janitorial staff – which is about where it belongs.

A cease-fire may have gone into effect in Gaza last week, but that doesn't seem to have stopped the Palestinians from continuing to attack Israeli towns and cities.

Just this morning, Palestinian terrorists fired yet another Qassam rocket into southern Israel. The projectile hit an open field next to a kibbutz, but thank G-d no one was injured in the attack.

This is the 15th rocket that the Palestinians have launched at Israel since the start of the cease-fire, and yet the government continues to refrain from going into Gaza to halt the assaults.

Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting this morning, Defense Minister Amir Peretz said that the Palestinians are "partially keeping" the cease-fire - I guess he means the "fire" part, because they have certainly been ignoring the "cease".

In any event, the ongoing rocket attacks demonstrate once again the futility of relying on wishful thinking in the formulation of Israeli defense policy.

Hoping that the Palestinians will stick to the cease-fire, despite their track record of violating every previous one, was both fool-hardy and dangerous, and it has now left Israel with its hands tied diplomatically behind its back.

Indeed, how many more rockets will it take for our leadership to realize that the only way to stem the violence is to hunt down its perpetrators, rather than negotiate with them?